INTRO Al right, so im kind of scared of you XBMC.org guys... The Vision1 thread did horrible here, there are sexy skins like Aeon, Fusion, and Fluid. My guess is this skin will pretty much get ignored with some nice people stopping by to give their compliments to make me feel good... But o well, here goes!

It was innevitable! I had to do a Vision2! So Microsoft inspired Vision1, This time around Sony inspired Vision2. I'm a big fag of Sony products. They are all black, sleek, shiny, simple and all around sexy. So I kept that in mind the whole time while coming up with ideas for Vision2.

FEATURES/IDEAS:720p HD This skin was made for 720p from scratch. 4:3 will not be focused on. Simply because Jezz_X and I dont feel the need to focus on 4:3 since HDTV's are so common now (Both Jezz_X and I have one)Navigation The one thing I concentrated on most was navigation & layout... You will notice this anywhere from Home, to Views, and all the way to the Keyboard.Library Mode Library Mode has been kept in mind while designing the skin. So the layout will take advantage of all Library Mode has to offer.FanArt (As I like to put it: Super Duper FullHD Wide Icons!). Skin will support FanArt, and future Music FanArt (Please Agathorn!)

These links couldn't make it because XBMC only allows 6 pictures to be shown in a thread... So click the links to see the pic (Sorry in advance for the popups Supload.com gives! Argh!

DVD Full Size DVD Poster in the middlePictures Full Size Photo Preview in the middleGames Selected Items Wide Icon shown on topMusic Full Size Album on the left, list on the right...Visualization in the backgroundMusic OSD This is the PM3 OSD. Re-Done to Hi-Def and ultra sexyMusic Info This shows information gathered from Library Mode

MISC:Note: No pic for these next ones, sorry!Keyboard Took a lot of time to think of the idea, but the layout is really good on navigationMythTV Not sure if it will get added (Since neither Jezz_X or I use it), but I do want to support it for those that use it!AMT I have a basic idea of the layout, not final yet...

PHASES:There won't be any phases like Vision1. There will be no 'Beta', 'Alpha', or 'Final' build of Project Vision2. All minor & major updates will be done via SVN unless Jezz_X & I die

Sorry guys... Looks as if that front image (The most important one!) doesn't work! I've contacted the admin at http://pics.apartment808.com to see if they can fix it...I've never had problems with them before, and im sure this won't be a issue, so i'll wait until he adds the site

I like it very much - looks great in HD, but unfortunately nothing for my old pal xbox.

Especially the home screen has great potential. Personally i would rather see an xbmc-logo instead of the project vi2ion (maybe make it smaller and put it somewhere on the right upper side?). Also i like always time & date on the home screen. But that's all just a matter of taste, isn't it?

Keep up the great work - always nice to see a fantastic new skin coming a long.

Since xbmc is growing out of the xbox, maybe it's time for a new default skin? But on the other hand on non-HD-hardware PM3 is still unbeatable imho.

Looking good. I think you're one of the few skins that makes excellent use of fan art in the TV section. I'm going to nitpick every little thing below. Keep in mind that I like your design, and many of these things are just personal preference.

My main criticism is that you have a lot of "wasted" space in some areas. Not that every area needs to be filled with something, but the main info area for TV series and games has a pretty wide border around it. I'm guessing that's limited due to the dimensions of the banner art, but if not you might want to consider expanding the box out a bit.

I'd love to see a TV series browsing mode that uses the wide banners instead of the text list in the side area. Even banners reduced to the width of that right nav area would look pretty nice.

I like your main menu, but something about it seems just a bit off to me. I think the full labels for each selection are part of it. I'm a minimalist, so I think having the title pop up at the top when you scroll to a section would be enough. Or just reduce the text from "Listen to music & audio CD's" to "Music". Remember that not everyone uses the sections the same way, so the more generic the description, the better.

Also consider allowing people to turn off the Vision logo. It's unnecessary and might not work with many backgrounds. Which brings up another point... cycling custom background images, similar to Aeon. Allow people to select a folder that contains the background art for that menu section. People could use the same backpacks as they use for Aeon, so it'd piggyback some work that's already been done.

Consider changing it so it doesn't use the PMIII mesh texture in the background. Yes, it looks nice, but I think you could use a texture that matches your entire skin a little better. Or just allow people to disable it or use a different option?

Finally, there are a handful of us that can't run at 720p due to our televisions not handling it. The work to make a skin work in 480p mode is pretty much limited to modifying the fonts file and minor position adjustments. Can you consider throwing us a bone and trying to get it working?

szsori Wrote:Finally, there are a handful of us that can't run at 720p due to our televisions not handling it. The work to make a skin work in 480p mode is pretty much limited to modifying the fonts file and minor position adjustments. Can you consider throwing us a bone and trying to get it working?

I disagree with some of what szsori says, I like the feeling of the displays not being overcluttered, I like the main menu, I don't object to the PMIII mesh texture or main screen icons, they fit the skin well.

I do agree about the custom background art, the vision logo and being able to use the wide banners for the TV show list!

I'm happy to volunteer to do the layout and font changes for 4:3 modes if you like.

probably already uploaded to the skinning svn.. download from there and build the skin yourself.

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